Fairy Tales and Myths

I referred to the value of fairy tales in my most recent blog, and I wanted to add a few comments here to state my case for why that is so.

There is a reason why certain stories like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty survived through all these years while most other stories died away. The tales and myths that survived were the ones that contained universal themes that are timeless. They contain what many people call our ‘collective consciousness’.

Collective consciousness to me means the accumulated wisdom and knowledge gathered over the centuries that represents what society has deemed important and valuable. It is the wisdom and experience we want to pass onto our children; it’s what we hold dear.

The original fairy tales were written as stories to be told to adolescents and adults to impart messages on how to live and act. The modern Disney versions were directed more to younger children, and with a different purpose and themes.

I would suggest that you read these original versions for fun and to understand the valuable wisdom they bring to us.

Comments

I have always loved the fairy tales. They hold much wisdom if you look just beyond the story as it stands. The characters hold archetypal patterns that we can use to find our way through our own personal life story and storms. I agree with you Dr. Jordan that fairy tales are worth our time and pondering.